


Penpal

by trebleDeath



Category: overwatch
Genre: Highschool AU, Highschool staff au, Sombra is like seventeen for lols, i need more tags so people find this shit, pigdemonart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 08:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8481952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trebleDeath/pseuds/trebleDeath
Summary: Sombra is shoved hastily into an academy when her last foster parents give up on her. Though the academy seems nice even though the uniforms are bad, she's full of hate towards the government and towards life itself. A letter written to any new students drags her out of her angst an somewhere happy, well at least happier. 
Roughly based on Pigdemonart's highschool as where everyone keeps their original age.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Edit:I got two kudos. I, so glad for the kudos, but I was honestly offended, until I realized I ain't showing up in any tags. The sombra tag is sombra(overwatch) not just Sombra....
> 
> Lol, this could be a single chapter fic if I want, but I kind of want to do more. 
> 
> what do you mean I'm slacking off on writing my other fanfic and nanowrimo. You're crazy. 
> 
> Anyway, I really love sombra because I relate to her. 
> 
> Anyway, enough about me! Now to sombra! She's a student because I needed some base for this fic, and I couldn't get an angle on the teachers. But man oh man, have I wanted to write pigdemonarts highschool au for forever. so here we are. I tweaked some things just a tiny bit, like dva, she's nineteen so I doubt she'd be in school still. And if I had used real ages, sombra would be the tech teacher who hates teaching kids PowerPoint. But I didn't do that. :3
> 
> Anyway, I love sombra. Enjoy!

One of the things Sombra hated about her age was that she was required to go to school. Sure, she only had one more year of this hell before she was free to do whatever she wanted, but still, school sucked major ass. And it didn’t help that she was shipped to some new school in new york because there were no foster parents to take her back in Dorado. Of course, that meant instead of her leaving the system early, she was handed off to the fucking United States, who also didn’t want to deal with her and sent her to a bording school in new fcking york, a.k.a the melting pot of the world. 

Apparently, whatever racists bastards ran the foster system thought she was monolingual and so they sent her to a multi ethnic school, which is how she got stuck sitting in the principal's office on the first day of school waiting for the spanish teacher to show up. 

She huffed and crossed her arms over the gaudy black and gold uniform she was issued. 

The elderly head mistress pushed a bowl of candy towards her, “¿Carmelo?"  
Sombra just stared at her vacantly. 

The woman still smiled, though she did switch out of the ‘Spanish’ that she probably got from google translate. “I’m sorry, I know very little Spanish. I just wanted to make sure you’re feeling comfortable.”

She kept staring. This was how it usually went. It was a battle of strength every time she was sent to meet a new principal. She could outstare them all, even the one who ran a boot camp, he was surprisingly week. 

The old woman kept holding her gaze. Until, that is, A man walked into the office looking quite angry. “Who the hell just names their kid just Sombra? No last name?? Just Sombra? They do realize that that means shadow right? They trying to make this kid a fucking hedgehog?”

The headmistress cleared her throat, “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” She gestured to Sombra. 

A light blush entered his ark cheeks, but he turned to face her and spoke in Spanish. Surprisingly, his accent was good and he got everything right unlike most self proclaimed Spanish teachers. He must have been bilingual. “Sorry, I’m Mr. reyes, the Spanish teacher. You’re hard to miss even with that purple mohawk… you do realize that that’s against the dress code.”

Sombra replied in Spanish, just to keep up appearances, “I’m not changing it.”

The headmistress spoke up again, “Oh, Gabriel, wil you please ask her if she would like a piece of candy?”  
“I don’t want any cady. Tell her to fuck off.” She spoke, still in Spanish. 

Mr. Reyes laughed, “She says fuck off with the candy.” He switched almost seamlessly to Spanish, “You understand English, yes? Why don’t you speak it?”

“If people assume I only know one language because they’re biased, then I’ll only speak in one language.”

Another small laugh from him, “Fair enough. I have one more question, did your parents name you after that red hedgehog.”

She grimaced, “No. I was orphaned a long time ago, and my birth records were destroyed. No one knew me, so when the government actually got to me, they let me name myself. I chose Sombra, because nobody notices orphans even though they’re right under their noses, like a shadow.”

“I see. No last name?”

“No. I have no family, and I want to reflect that.”

“What about future family?”

“As if.”

He sighed, switching back to English, “You seem to harbor a lot of hatred. It won’t do you well here, just leave it behind.”

Instead of doing the polite thing, she stuck up her middle finger, showing off her neatly manicured, orchid nails. "What about you? You seem angry, why do I have to be happy and you don't?"

“Don’t do that again, please.” The headmistress interrupted before Reyes could respond. Though her words sounded like a request, they were really a demand. Typical teacher bullshit.

“Oh, and before I forget, here.” She pulled out a letter and pushed it over the to the other side of the desk, much like she did with the candies. “It’s a letter from one of my previous students. She was class representative, so I asked her to write a letter for new students if they should transfer in. It’s a little old, I hope you don’t mind.”

“It’s great,” For the first time since being shoved into this damned school, she spoke English, “Nothing like being welcomed to hell by a piece of paper rather than an actual person.”

She shrugged, “Well, get along. You start classes tomorrow, and if you ever need any help, come visit myself or Reyes, or any of the staff really.”

She sighed and got up and left. 

In the dorms, she sat down on her assigned bed and unfolded the letter. It was probably 3 pages. Well, time to start reading them while she had a chance. 

With a sigh, she started to leaf through the words. 

“Hello new student~, 

I’m going to cut the formal bull crap and just talk to you honestly. I know that Miss. Amari won;t actually proof read this. No, I’m too good of a student to draw dicks on this super formal letter to you. Poor lady, she’s going to make so many copied without looking, and there will be a dick on every single page. >:3”

Below that was a crude drawing of a penis, though it was scribbled out, probably by Miss Amari after the fact, when she realized she had made dozens of copies only for each of them to feature a dick. 

Sombra gave a soft chuckle and continued reading. 

“I also know that she will use this for years to come, so I can’t guarantee that I’ll still be in this school when you enter, but I’ll try to be. I want to get my degree in teaching and come back to be the new tech teacher, heaven knows that the current one is old as balls. I hope you take my class if I’m here. Look for Miss. Song.

Wait, do new students even get to choose their own schedule? I’m not sure; I’ve been in this school since I entered middle school, or I guess what would be considered middle school to other schools. Whatever. 

Point is, if I’m not a student, I want you to come see me as a teacher, I’ll give you that straight dope. And if I’m neither, I still want you to reach out to me. Okay, maybe I don’t want it, but I’ll encourage that cause that’s the shit I’m supposed to be doing as a rep. 

Anyway, my email is cutiegremlin@gamerzspot.net Yes. I know I could give you my professional email, but I want to deter as many people as I can by stating the fact that I’m a gamer. Console life for the win! Though I still lay some on the computer. LOL. 

I also stream on twitch occasionally and have a youtube page, so, check me out. It should be D.va’s gamez, yes with a Z cause I’m cool like that. ;3. 

Anyway, this letter is to help you not only learn about me, your maybe class rep, but to help you navigate the school. 

So yes, I know that the uniform is god awful, I mean, who wants to wear a black and gold plaid skirt with a black blazer trimmed with gold? Actually, I can think of a few people. Regardless! It’s ugly. Just thank the high heavens you can choose your own accessories so long as they aren’t distracting. The whole time I was here, I wore extremely bright, exaggerated pink makeup and white thigh highs, just to be sexy ;). Except, I probably ruined the whole sexy thing with my bunny pins and earrings and headband. Nothing can make my cute, childish aesthetic sexy, especially not socks. LOL. 

Anyway, amo up the aesthetic, where what you want, and cut or die your hair crazy colours! I mean, that part isn;t allowed, but no one will get on your case if you follow my list of rules. 

Make friends with the hall monitors. That way they’ll never turn you in. That, or be really good at hiding.  
Make sure you choose all the fun teachers. I still dont really know if you can choose your own classes, but if you can, choose the good ones. For your benefit, I’ll take the time out of my busy schedule of being a flawless student and writing down the cool ones.

Reyes: He’s the spanish teacher and super grumpy because he didn’t get the promotion he wanted. He was a contender for that position like, three years ago at my time, and he’s still angry. Almost every day, I swear, he would rant to the class about he was the better fit. Whatever. He’s really cool even though he’s pretty much always angry. Just sympathize with him and who knows, he might be a future drinking buddy. ;3. And he doesn’t give a crap about rules or homework. 

Oxton: Actually super gay. She seriously looks like a soft butch, but she’ll deny it until the sun goes down because she thinks her job is on the line. She’s really new to teaching so she’s easy to push around. She’ll treat you like a peer not a student, which is cool, and she never hands out quizzes. Just avoid shakespeare because that is the bane of existence, and point out any gay undertones, because like I said, she is probably really gay. I would know. I’m pretty sure she’s pining after the french teacher Madame Lacroix, who, btw, you should avoid at all costs. She’ll rat you out even if you’re not her student. She’s so mean D:

Gengi: The fencing coach who will also treat you like a peer and is also gay as hell. There’s a rumour that he has a body pillow of some pink haired dragon anime boy. Did I forget to mention? He’s a weeb, well actually, not really considering he’s japanese.He can’t really appropriate his own culture, huh? Anyway, he might tease you and beat you up with a foil, but he’s cool. Be careful when choosing classes, because his brother also works here and is a dick. You have to do everything right with him and he patronizes everyone, I swear. So, just be careful when choosing extracurricular activities. 

Lucio: He is honestly my best friend. He's a young band teacher and he is sick, ya feel! He knows a lot about music, but he’s way more interested in showing off his own creation than teaching kids to play an instrument, or how to play together. He just needs himself for m’s great to talk to and doesn’t give a shit about rules. 

Reinhardt: He’s like a walking time machine. He’s super old and went to war. He’s lived through everything major I think, So he’ll tell you about all the fun events in vivid detail and always remind you to pay attention to the world because history is made every day. He’ll then lean in close and tell you that you are making history everyday. He’s such a sweetheart, like a grandpa! He cares so much, he just can’t retire. He will encourage you and I don’t think he even knows what the rules are, so go ahead and do whatever you want in his class! But pay attention, it is really fun. He’ll even make you act out events!

Torbjorn: The wood shop teacher, a.k.a one of the extracurricular teachers that is actually cool. He’ll be supportive of your decisions and not rat on you so long as you’re on his good side. Basically all that means is be good at woodworking and don’t laugh at his appearance. 

Zhou: She used to work in Antarctica I think. She loves kids and won’t exactly treat you like a peer,but she’s really nice and will respect you. The most she’ll do is give you a warning but nothing else. She’s so nice though, she smiles all the time and tries to help kids on tests, while they’re taking the test. 

Winston: He’s super scary when he’s angry.I mean, who wants to watch such a large hairy man scream. Don’t anger him. But do bribe him with peanut butter cookies. He says he’s trying to go on a diet pretty much all the time, but he’ll take any baked good, especially if it’s banana or peanut butter. Make sure you take really good notes, because he doesn’t go easy on the physics. He doesn’t know the rules, but he will still report you for anything if you’re bad enough, again, can not stress it enough, give him baked goods. 

Vaswani: She likes everything organized and hangs out in the library. She’s too passionate about math to tell you to stop acting out. Just use a ruler and stay in the library and you’ll be good.

Other staff you should care about:

Jamie: He’s the young janitor. I think he used to be the chemistry teacher, but he blew too much shit up, so they fired him and he got rehired as a janitor? He’s sweet, he means well, but he’s reckless. 

Mako: The old janitor. He hates life, and kids, and Jamie. Just be nice to him, he probably has a weird past with gangs or something, he deserves to have something nice. And if you’re nice, he won’t kill you. He would be so good at hiding your death. 

Angela: She’s the hot nurse. Boy oh boy am I gay for her. If you don’t want to go t class, fein being dizzy or sick and go to the nurse’s office to look at that sweet ass, get juice and crackers, and maybe a cute bandaid. 

McCree: He’s the extra teacher on hand. He’s a total cowboy type and goes to the shooting range to pretend to shoot people he hates. He’s a lazy sub. He just puts on a movie and takes a nap. Hope you get him at least once. 

Pharah: The office aid. She’s miss Amari’s daughter and is a stickler for rules. Stay away from her! Her mom is the cool one, she has candy. JK. Her mom is scary as fuck, and Pharah has all the good gossip. Be her friend, but be wary that she doesn’t see you break rules. 

Zenyatta: He’s such a sweety. He’ll listen to you talk and talk and offer sage advice and then give you a hug. It’s great. I love having a counselor at the school. And we need one, because surely we’d all get crazy living with each other. I’m also pretty sure he has a thing with Genji, like a sort of sugar daddy thing? I don’t know. Ask Pharah

And since there are only two P.E teachers and you’ll have one, i’ll talk about those too!

Zarya: She used to compete in the olympics. She’s cool, but no matter what you do, it will never be enough. Never. 

Morrison: He’s ex military, so he too will never be pleased with you. You play dodge ball against Zarya’s class every friday. I swear, those P.E. classes are like being in the army. Try to test out if you can. 

Yeah! Anyway, that’s that! I hope you really have a good year or years here. Like yeah, school sucks and it’s a stupid waste of time only constructed so that we can be productive members of society. And by that, I mean so we can bend to the will of Capitalism and serve The Man. Still, this is highschool! The last protected years of your life, try to have fun, or at least be happy!

Anyway, Gamer Grl D.Va out~”

Well, that was rather entertaining. And the writer sounded cute. Maybe Sombra would shoot her an email later to see how old she was. Just to make sure it wouldn't be creepy if they were friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sombra hype is still real, right? 
> 
> I relized halfway through writing this that she was supposed to be charismatic. So. Here.

The first thing Sombra did once she was done settling into her two person dorm that really looked like it was uninhabited except for her, she took out her school issued laptop to check up on this D.Va girl. 

 

Of course, she found her twitch sight, and her you tube channel, as well as some news of her winning the national LOL competition. But that was all contemporary. Honestly, there was too much about her current life, that she could not find anything about her previous life. That should have been a given, almost everyone who went through these halls was an orphaned or delinquent. Really, there was nothing left of early childhood when you came here, and not much to say about your time once you left. Sad.

 

With a sigh, she opened her email and set about sending an email to this girl.

 

“Hi. I’m a transfer student at OW Academy. I wanted to let you know that they’re still using your letter for new students. I’m assuming it’s been a few years since you’ve written it considering you’re on to bigger and better things. Anyway, I wanted to say hi. Your letter will be very useful if those teachers haven’t retired yet. Thank you. -Sombra”

 

Wow. Okay, that was lame. But she wasn’t going to revise, it, no she would just send this girl a message out of the blue that screamed how thirsty she was for attention. With a sigh, she hit send, knowing very well how she was going to fuck up and regret it later. 

 

Her eyes lazily followed the processing icon as it tried to send, only to be met with an error message. 

 

Frowning, she clicked the send button again. 

 

The same things happened. 

 

“Must be a deleted email..” She mused aloud as she got up off the bed, closing the laptop as she did. 

 

After slipping on her school issued loafers, she headed for the classrooms in the other building. Surely one of the younger teachers would recognize this Hana girl and might now a way to contact her. Never mind the fact that class was in session, she was going to get the information she needed--well wanted. 

 

The first person she met upon entering the main building was a janitor, cackling under his breath and mopping up spilled milk. 

 

Frowning slightly, she walked around him to face him. His name tag read ‘Jamison’ so this was probably the old chemistry teacher? She cleared her throat to get his attention.

 

He looked up with a lopsided smile, “Hi there. Need something?”

 

“Yes,” She smiled, “I believe you know a girl named Hana Song?”

 

His smile only grew, “Hana Song, haven’t heard that name in years..” He was silent for a moment before looking over his shoulder, “Ey Roadie! Remember Hana?” 

 

A large man that Sombra hadn’t noticed until then walked over to join the duo in the middle of the hall from the wall he was leaning against. “Yeah, what about her?”

 

Jamison shrugged, “Hell if I know. This kid brought her up.” they both looked back at Sombra, an expectant, almost hungry look filled their eyes. 

 

More like they filled Jamison’s. The one with the name tag reading Mako was just staring at her with a gaze that screamed murder, with a hint of boredom and curiosity. 

 

“I’m just trying to see who knows her email. I want to send her a message.” 

 

Jamie lit up, “Yeah! I got it,” He pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket, grabbed Sombra’s hand and scribbled something on it. 

 

Once she had her hand all to herself once again, she looked at the writing, squinting to try and make it out. Finally, she said, “I don’t think this is current. I just tried to email her using this address and it didn’t work.”

 

“Oh yeah, that might explain a few things. I was wondering why she never replied. Oh well.” He was just about to get back to cleaning when the larger pulled the mop out of his hands.

 

“You’ve been trying to clean the floor for fifteen minutes. It would be clean by now if you had any idea what you were doing. Let me do it.”

 

Sombra shrugged and left them to clean up, not knowing those few sentences were probably the most she would ever hear from Mako ever again. Oh well. 

 

She kept walking until she got to the Spanish classroom. Honestly, it was the only classroom she knew the whereabouts of. Luckily, no class was being held in there, so it was just Mr. Reyes and some buff guy with a beard and a plaid shirt. 

 

As soon as she stepped in, the latter looked up with a grin, “Hello little desert flower, what are you here for.”

Gabe smacked him, “Don’t hit on my students.” 

 

“Ow! You’re so mean to your son. Besides, it’s not like I’m trying to get any of them, I just want them all to know how much of a DILF I am.”

 

With a roll of the eyes, he turned his attention to her, "What do you need?”

 

“Well, I wanted to ask if you had a school map or knew where rooms are. But now I’m curious,” She put a finger to her chin as if to prove her statement, “If he says he is your son, and he is also a dad, does that mean you are a grandpa? You look rather young for that. Does that mean both your son and his son are bastards?”

 

He inhaled heavily through his nose. “Sombra, please. I don’t have the time or energy to point out everything wrong with what you said. But I do know you can get a school map n the office. If you follow this hallway to the end, you should be there. You remember, right?”

 

She nodded, “Thank you.” She decided to just not pay attention to his shooting down her joke. Well, it was more teasing than joking, but he shot it down nonetheless. She mentally shrugged that off and went to the front office. 

 

The office worker was sitting on her yoga ball, phone in hand. She pulled it away to look at the girl and whispered, “What do you need! Shouldn't you be in class?” 

 

She shook her head, “I don't have class right now. Can I get a school map?” 

 

She gestured to a stack of papers before going back to her phone conversation. 

 

Sombra picked up a map and located the music room on it, she then made her way there. 

 

This time. There was a class in session. Though all of the kids sitting in the half circle, with their instruments ready, were not playing anything. The conductor wasn't conducting anything either.

 

No, the young man was sitting at his desk, glasses perched on his nose and a large grin on his face, “Okay. So we're going to listen to this tape, and I want all of you to try and listen for any hemiolas. When you hear them, think about how it sounds when done right.” He started the music, upbeat music filled the room. 

 

It was only after a few bars that he looked at the girl who entered the room a while before. He grinned and walked over to her, “Hi, what can I do for you?”

 

She put on a sugary grin, “I just had a couple questions, but I don’t need to ask your gith now. When does your class end?”

 

He grinned right back at her, “Oh, I promise it’s not trouble. They can jam out to these beats for a bit later.” He turned and gestured to one of the students, the sole hornist. “Hey, Joe, conduct them from ‘larghetto’ to the first ‘ritardando’. I’ll take comments on these swaggy hemiolas when I get back.” he walked out of the band room and into the hall. 

 

Sombra followed. 

 

As soon as the door was closed and those dope hemiolas were muffled, he turned to her, this smile still present. “Now, what can I do for you?”

 

She kept smiling at him, “Like I said, I just have a few questions for you. Do you remember a student named Hana Song? I got a letter from her and she spoke highly of you.”

 

“Yeah! She played percussion her first year, but she decided it wasn't for her. She kept coming back to talk through. Sweet girl.”

 

She nodded, “I figured. Do you still keep in touch with her?”

 

“Not so much any more, why do you ask?”

 

She shrugged, “I just wanted to send her an email thanking her for the advice she wrote in her welcome letter. But I don’t know her current email.”

 

“Sounds fun! But I don’t have her email. I could ask other teachers to try and get it for you.”

 

She shook her head, “Thank you, but I think I can do that on my own.”

 

The teacher chuckled, “If you say so! But I’ll at least get you a list of teachers who she might still be in touch with.”

 

“That would be great!” 

 

Inside the band room, the uptempo music stopped, and a new music filled the air, though ti was still muffled. Joe must have started conducting. 

 

The teacher smiled, “Well, it was nice meeting you, I have to get going now.” He pushed open the door, letting more music fill the air outside the room, and left Sombra in the hall.

 

She sighed and walked back to the dorms. No use in keeping up the wild goose chase when the day was almost over. The least she could do was revise her draft to Hana before dinner then lights out. 

 

Once back in her dorm, she pulled out her laptop and started writing. 

 

“Hana,   
I’m a transfer student at OWA, and I wanted to thank you for the letter. Yes, they still are using it, even a few years after your graduation. I’m sure they’ll replace it soon, or at least they should. I fear that all that advice you so kindly included will soon be outdated, what with people changing and others leaving, more coming. 

 

I don’t know yet if anything you’ve written is out of date, but so far it’s accurate. Although, I have only met a handful of teachers. I’ll keep using it to my advantage for as long as I can. 

 

I found your twitch and you tube accounts. I’m not much into games, or console games for that matter, but I might check you out. You seem pretty good, as I would expect from a world champion gamer would be. 

 

Your letter was not only useful, but pretty entertaining. I’m glad I received it.   
Sombra.”

 

There,That was at least less awkward than the other draft. Still a bit stiff, and completely unlike her usual charismatic self. But it would have to do since internet communication was always a bit weird at first. And she knew very little about Hana still. 

 

This draft would have to do for now. She closed her laptop and went on with her day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter is going to end with a new draft to Hana. And there might be five chapters in total. 
> 
> My hip hurts and I love comments. Have a good day. It's only eight thirty and I'm already done. Granted I've been awake for three hours.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I wasnt making sombra happy/charming enough. She uses other people, that's part of her character that I love and relate to. But I also see her as angry at the world and society for not giving a damn and putting her in these situations. She wants to be in charge of her life. Anyway, here's a more manipulative Sombra. Enjoy.

The next week only entailed hell for Sombra. Why? Because she had to go to classes. And no, she could not choose her classes. She was stuck with whatever classes didn’t have enough kids and with just enough credits to fulfill New York’s graduation requirements. 

She sighed and looked at the paper in her hand that she had been given moments ago when she was called back to the principal’s office. 

Currently she had, English, then geometry then spanish, then gym, then computer science, and finally physics. 

Another sigh passed her lips as she tried to remember all she knew of the teachers listed. “Well,” She practically breathed annoyance through her soft words, “At least the school day will be fun.” 

She tucked the schedule into her pocket and headed to class, her most charming smile firmly in place. Why? Because despite her anger, she had to be seen as a good student. People paid attention to the rebellious kids while simultaneously not giving a fuck about them. Honestly, she had to find a new way to get things in life. 

So, with a smile and kind words, she made it through the school day. 

The evening found her back nestled in her bed, admiring the silence and space that came with being roomed alone. Traces of her smile still on her face, she pulled out her laptop. No, not to actually do homework, rather to give Hana an update. 

She didn’t know why but emailing this woman was relaxing, it was as if she were actually talking to someone who wanted to know what’s up, though she still had not received any response, especially considering none of them got sent. 

“Hana, 

I’ve been at Overwatch Academy for a week now, and yet this is my first day of classes. When I came here, I was told I would start the day after I was transfered, but I guess that changed. Regardless, I must say that I don’t share the enthusiasm for school as you probably did. 

I’ve been asking a lot of teachers about you, you know, especially since the account I’m trying to email these letters to is deactivated. So, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you by asking any teachers if they know anyway to get into contact with you. So far no luck. 

But every teacher that I ask and has heard of you smiled and told me that you were a great student. Very friendly and studious with a passion for life. From what I’ve seen of you online and what I’ve heard from these teachers really paints a pretty picture of you. 

To follow up on what I’ve tried to say every time previous. Your teacher guide is actually pretty helpful. I no longer have to assume it will be great. It really was helpful, not only for what to expect, but to manipulate teachers. I know that that probably wasn’t your intention when you wrote that letter to new students, but it really is useful to me. 

I wasn’t able to get out of physical ed, but I pouted at Zarya and explained some physical ailment I supposedly have now, and now I don't have to do anything but sit on the bleachers and do tests. I’l probably do little things to show that I do want to participate, but I can’t. 

And I have Mr. Reyes for Spanish (A waste really. I wanted french, but apparently a third language is apparently too difficult for me) I can’t play the perfect student with him because he already saw me angry at the world, so I just sympathize with him and joke about other people’s pronunciation. 

I haven’t had time to make cookies or anything for The physics teacher, but for the rest of my classes, I’m just being a model student and waiting for my time to strike. 

This old woman I used to know would always say that the best way to succeed is to let other people get you there. She was lazy and mean and I loved her. She got stabbed and died. I guess that’s what happens when you harbor criminals. 

I’m sure she meant something else by saying that, but what I take that is get as many people on your side as possible so you can use them, or they just won’t know you're using them and boost you of their own volition. 

Anyway, you probably don’t want to hear that. You really do seem like a preppy, perfect girl that goofs off on her own time. Anyway, I hope to meet you soon. I really do hope you get the student teacher part for the computer science teacher. He’s so old and thinks we don’t know how to attach files to an email. Please, I’ve been hacking into government databases for years. But that’s besides the point, he looks like he’s on the brink of death. We need someone young and relevant.

Like always, thank you for writing that letter. It really did help me. I’d really love to actually get an email to you and talk. I feel like we would get along.

Sombra.”

With a soft smile, this one more genuine than the one she wore all day, she closed the laptop. Not even bothering to try and send the email. It had been a while since Sombra had grown tired of that error message that followed every email. 

With the daily email out of the way, she pushed the laptop away and contemplated doing homework before getting under the covers of the bed and pulling the laptop back to her. Sure, netflix was blocked on the wifi system, but that was no longer a problem, at least for her. 

The next day was largely the same as the previous. Go to class, smile, maybe talk to the teacher before and after class about their ‘shared’ interests, do homework in the spare time between each of her classes, and repeat the cycle. It was somewhat tiring to follow a schedule, especially when everyone around her was distant and nothing changed from the previous day. Not the clothes, not the teachers, not the whispers about her, nothing. 

Well, there was one change. 

Sombra walked into her computer science class, fully expecting to ignore the teacher and do her own thing. But instead of the quivering, worn voice from the old teacher, she was greeted with the young adult she had seen last week, hanging around Gabe Reyes. 

He smiled at her, apparently pleased at the confused expression on her face. “Well if it isn’t the little desert flower again. How do you do, little lady?”

“Fine, I’d be a whole lot better if you stopped calling me a desert flower. I don’t think I can think of one that remotely resembles me, and it’s a bit awkward. You’re almost twenty years older than me.”

He shrugged, “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. And I really do think you resemble a desert flower, especially if you consider a thistle a flower, which I do. They were all over my hometown, purple and pokey, just like you.” He winked, and surely, if he was wearing a hat, he would probably would have tipped it. 

Sombra just shifted her weight from one leg to the other and took the smallest of steps to the side as another student entered the room, to whom McCree smile and waved. 

Once he was done with his small, silent greeting, Sombra spoke. “So I’ve gathered that you’re substituting today. Why? What happened to Mr. Smith?”

Something small in his face shifted, making his once gentle smile seem all that more grim. “Heart attack I think. I’m not up on all the gossip. I just know that he’s gone and I’m here for the rest of the week. I think next week a replacement will be here.”

“Do you know the candidates for the job?”

His original smile was back on his face, “Why would I, silly girl? I’m a substitute, and I only sub for this school because of my connections. Plus, I’m not even sure they have candidates up. Why do you even want to know?”

She gave a light shrug, “I’m worried about my education. And I want to make sure that whoever is going to be teaching me knows something. At least more than Mr. Smith.” That was mostly true. She honestly didn’t care about formal education, but the old, clueless man, that wasn’t even born in the era of computers irritated her. So why not hope for someone better?

McCree gave a low laugh, “It’s nice that you’re worried about your education in this field. And honestly, you should be worried. I still use a flip phone, and all we’re going to b doing for the next week is watch films.” He clapped his hands, “Speaking of which,” He started towards the front of the room, leaving SOmbra to find her seat. 

Once he was at the front, he spoke again. ‘What movie do you guys want to watch? I have Finding Nemo and Megamind.”

For the first time in almost forty hours, a frown made itself known on her face as she sat down in the plastic chair in front of the computer in the corner. This week was probably going to be more of a hell than she assumed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of writing another roadrat fanfiction where they're just weirdos who live outside of town, blowing up shit and making weird scrap metal art. Of course they still go on expeditions to steal shit and all, but no one knows that they're at large. Anyway. 
> 
> if I can make myself write, the next chapter will be the last. Sombra isn't as hot of a topic as she was. and i'm tired.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll post this as a one chapter fic run, tell me if you want me to continue! 
> 
> I should be writing other things.... 
> 
> I'll keep this one fairly simple, because my Achilles heel of writing is getting relationships really fucked up and over complicating life. So. Simple is the goal.
> 
> I hate life. I'm so sorry.


End file.
